Saturday, August 24, 2013

Versatile performer can handle placekicks, punting and kickoffs ...
Hoping to earn the starting placekicker role following the graduation of
Craig McIntosh ... Handled kickoffs for most of his first three seasons
... Hit 38-yard game-winning field goal in the final minute of the 2011
Blue/White Spring Game ... Has played in 30 games.

Special teams coach Bradley Dale Peveto said senior Joe Mansour hasn't missed a field goal all spring. "He's
got a strong leg; he gets the ball up," Peveto said of Mansour. "He's
mechanically very good; I've been very impressed with him."

"The new UK staff, led by special teams coach Bradley Dale Peveto, has bigger plans for Mansour. 'In
my eyes, he's been the kicker all along,' Peveto said Friday of
Mansour. 'It's his job to lose. I want to make sure we all understand
that. Joe's always been our kicker. Period.' When those words were relayed to Mansour, the senior smiled. 'That
means a lot,' he said. 'It means a lot because I went through some
tough times the past three years, especially those first two years. My
freshman year, I had pretty high expectations for myself and it didn't
go as planned.'...

True freshman Austin MacGinnis, ranked as one of the three
best kickers in the nation by two recruiting services, has been
challenging Mansour since he arrived on campus. But Peveto still likes what Mansour has shown. Mansour is happy to have the fresh beginning. 'His
energy and the way he communicated with the special teams players, I
knew it was going to be a different year, a different coaching staff,'
he said of Peveto. 'It was going to be a new start for me and that's
what I needed'."

"One of the top kickers in the nation, MacGinnis could give Kentucky an
immediate boost. He expects the opportunity to start right away, and he
could end up as one half of a formidable special teams duo with Landon
Foster, who took over UK’s punting duties as a true freshman this
season. 'He influenced my decision,' MacGinnis told Cats Illustrated of
his talks with Foster. 'I’m looking forward to playing with him.' Known for his booming kickoffs, MacGinnis impressed former coach
Joker Phillips by connecting on a couple of 60-yard field goals at UK
camp. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, he made nine field goals
of at least 60 yards at various spring camps. UK was his first offer,
and he immediately accepted. 24/7 Sports ranks MacGinnis as the No. 3 kicker in the country for 2013."

"This offseason our specialist core has been working hard on weights and
conditioning. Each player has been individually working towards their
skill set to reach their full potential. I look forward for our our
specialist team to come together during the weeks of camp and put it all
together. My goal for us is to be leaders in not just the conference but
America in the core statistics of special teams. We have always been up
in the ranks, but it is our goal to be at the top in every category. As a
holder, my goal is to do whatever I can in order to make our field goal
team as confident and efficient as possible. I know it is everyone's
goal to compete in a bowl this year and be a competitor in the SEC."

On the heels of the best freshman season a Wildcat punter has ever had, University of Kentucky sophomore punter Landon Foster has been named as one of 25 players nationally to the 2013 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List.... Foster had an immediate impact for the Wildcats last season as a true
freshman handling all of the punting responsibilities and posting a 42.9
yards-per-punt average - the best mark ever by a UK freshman punter.
The strong season led Foster to Freshman All-America honors by Scout.com
and CollegeFootballNews.com, while SEC coaches tabbed Foster a Freshman
All-SEC performer. The native of Franklin, Tenn., averaged a
season-high 50.7 yards in UK's win over Kent State, while his longest
punt was a 58-yard blast against Arkansas. In all, Foster trapped UK's
opponents inside their own 20-yardline an impressive 13 times last
season.